Petuniaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Duesurple.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Duesurple.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rheinberg, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Petunias with attractive flower colors.
The new Petunia originated from a cross made by the Inventor of a proprietary Petunia selection identified as code number S-18, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Petunia selection identified as code number S-16, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny by the Inventor in Rheinberg, Germany, on the basis of its attractive flower color.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings taken in Rheinberg, Germany has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Duesurple have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Duesurplexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Duesurplexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely basal branching.
3. Single flowers that are purple in color with darker purple throat and venation.
Compared to plants of the female parent, the selection S-18, plants of the new Petunia are more compact and have larger flowers with larger petals. Compared to plants of the male parent, the selection S-16, plants of the new Petunia have smaller leaves and flowers.
Plants of the new Petunia are similar to plants of the cultivar Surfinia Revolution, not patented, in flower color. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinberg, Germany, plants of the new Petunia differed from plants of the cultivar Surfinia Revolution in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia had shorter lateral branches with shorter internodes than plants of the cultivar Surfinia Revolution.
2. Plants of the new Petunia had longer leaves than plants of the cultivar Surfinia Revolution.
3. Plants of the new Petunia had larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Surfinia Revolution.